Lowry, Richard S.

PERSONAL:

Married; wife's name Vickye; children: Ryan, Jeremy, Justin.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Orlando, FL.

CAREER:

Author and military historian. Designer of integrated circuits, 1975-2002. Military service: U.S. Navy submarine service, 1967-75; served aboard the USS Ulysses S. Grant during the Vietnam War.

MEMBER:

Military Writers Society of America, Florida Writers Association, Orlando Writers Guild (founder).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Marine Corps Heritage Foundation grant, 2004; distinguished honors award, Military Writer's Society of America, 2006, for The Gulf War Chronicles: A Military History of the First War with Iraq; silver medal, Military Writer's Society of America, 2006, for Marines in the Garden of Eden: The True Story of Seven Bloody Days in Iraq.

WRITINGS:

The Gulf War Chronicles: A Military History of the First War with Iraq, iUniverse, (Lincoln, NE), 2003.

Marines in the Garden of Eden: The Battle for An Nasiriyah, Berkley Caliber (New York, NY), 2006, published in paperback as Marines in the Garden of Eden: The True Story of Seven Bloody Days in Iraq, 2007.

US Marine in Iraq: Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003, illustrated by Howard Gerrard, Osprey Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Military Magazine, Leatherneck, Weekly Standard, and Marine Corps Gazette. Contributor to Web sites, including Military. com.

SIDELIGHTS:

Military historian Richard S. Lowry is the author of The Gulf War Chronicles: A Military History of the First War with Iraq. In the work, the product of more than twelve years of research, Lowry provides a day-by-day, hour-by-hour account of Operation Desert Storm, the U.S.-led military campaign that drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991. In addition to detailing events that occurred on the ground, in the air, and on the sea, the author tells the stories of American prisoners-of-war and examines casualties caused by friendly fire.

Lowry has also published Marines in the Garden of Eden: The Battle for An Nasiriyah, an account of the week-long battle for the Iraqi town that pitted marines from Task Force Tarawa against followers of Saddam Hussein. On March 23, 2003, members of the 507th Maintenance Company found themselves lost in the Iraqi desert and came under heavy fire; a number of soldiers were taken prisoner, including Private Jessica Lynch, whose story made national headlines. American forces later fought through An Nasiriyah to free the soldiers and secure a pair of bridges. Reviewing Marines in the Garden of Eden in Booklist, Roland Green observed that Lowry provides "an excellent battle narrative, which, thanks to extensive interviewing, shifts from one unit to another," and a contributor in Publishers Weekly stated that the author's "nuts-and-bolts description of the fight represents his strongest writing."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2006, Roland Green, review of Marines in the Garden of Eden: The True Story of Seven Bloody Days in Iraq, p. 22.

Publishers Weekly, May 1, 2006, review of Marines in the Garden of Eden, p. 54.

ONLINE

Amazon.com,http://www.amazon.com/ (July 15, 2007), "Richard S. Lowry's Profile."

Gulf War Chronicles Web site,http://www.gwchronicles.com (July 15, 2007).

Marines in the Garden of Eden Web site,http://www.marinesinthegardenofeden.com (July 15, 2007).

Military Writers Society of America,http://www.militarywriters.com/ (July 15, 2007), Rob Ballister, Bill McDonald, and Joe Fabel, reviews of Marines in the Garden of Eden.